President Minouche Shafik’s December 20 email reaffirms that Columbia will stand on the wrong side of history amidst the ongoing genocide in Gaza. President Shafik emailed the Columbia community within the same hours that Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that the Israeli military had officially killed at least 20,000 Palestinians in Gaza in just 78 days. This figure does not account for the thousands of people crushed beneath the rubble of their homes, hospitals, and widespread civilian infrastructure.
We strongly condemn Minouche Shafik’s email, which overlooks Columbia’s complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza and further demonizes Palestine advocacy on campus. Shafik’s empty promises of “tolerance and compassion” exclude Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, and people of color, whose voices and experiences are continuously dismissed. Columbia refuses to acknowledge the weight of genocide on our Palestinian community members, who mourn the martyrdom of dozens of their relatives while witnessing daily massacres.
Sit-in at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs organized by SIPA students, November 29, 2023. (Photo: CUAD)
Shafik’s admiration for the “many ways, big and small” that Columbia community members have “shown up for each other” contrasts sharply with her numerous student disciplinary notices for “potential violation of the Rules of University Conduct.” The administration has even penalized students for their personal social media content. Such censorship clarifies that their “empathy and care” do not extend to those who criticize the Zionist project. Shafik’s paltry “recommitment” to free speech is an utter hypocrisy, as her administration subverts their own rules to cancel events, suspend student organizations, and discipline students who speak up against the genocide in Gaza.
In Columbia’s halls, Israeli tragedies are widely mourned, while Palestinian suffering is systematically ignored. The administration coddles the Israel lobby, while simultaneously spreading anti-Palestinian animosity. The prompt creation of a task force to tackle anti-Semitism, laudable in isolation, becomes hypocritical in the absence of any tangible commitment to confront anti-Palestinian hate and Islamophobia. As Columbia History Professor Rashid Khalidi wrote in response to Shafik’s email, the Antisemitism Task Force is “nearly devoid of expertise on antisemitism and on Palestine/Israel,” consisting of Pro-Israel advocates. Columbia’s initiation of a task force dedicated to Israeli propaganda indicates the University’s rigorous commitment to Israeli apartheid and militarism.
We are concerned that this disingenuous Task Force would recommend adopting the misleading IHRA definition of antisemitism, which conflates anti-zionism with anti-semitism and has been weaponized against individuals supporting Palestine since long before October 7th. Schools that adopted IHRA’s definition have disrupted pro-Palestine rallies, banned pro-Palestine student groupsand “suspended its elected student officers after they released a statement expressing their support for Palestine.”1 Barnard College President Laura Rosenbury fueled this incorrect conflation when she noted that she was “appalled and saddened to see antisemitism and anti-Zionism spreading throughout Barnard and Columbia.”
The demonization of student activism during an active genocide against Palestinians further jeopardizes Palestinian students’ safety. In the past three months, faculty and students alike have threatened Palestinian students and student organizers for Palestine in classrooms, dormitory hallways, during campus demonstrations, and even at vigilssome escalating to death threats. In light of active threats on campus during the Israeli genocidal assault on Palestine, Columbia’s preoccupation with “both sides” further enables violence against Palestinians.
Shafik alleges that “Columbia, in particular, has a long tradition of valuing dissent and controversy and in welcoming the clash of opinions onto the campus.” Her framing rewrites Columbia’s centuries-long history of oppression. The institution was established upon the exploited labor of enslaved people. In 1790, Columbia affiliates (administrators, trustees, professors) enslaved at least 227 Black men and women. In 1883, the administration voted to bar women from a Columbia education. In 1968, Columbia infamously called the NYPD to arrest 720 students protesting the Vietnam War. The school also threatened students with expulsion and criminal prosecution for protesting Apartheid South Africa.
Finally, Shafik’s email invites students to view an abhorrent statement signed by every single Dean on Columbia’s campus, deemed an “extraordinary expression of unity and principles.” With the conflation that anti-Zionism equates to antisemitism, the Deans call the chants for Palestinian liberation “anti-semitic and deeply hurtful.” These are biased, racist interpretations of, “from the river to the sea,” “intifada,” and “by any means necessary,” which call for decolonization, liberation, and an end to Israeli apartheid and genocide against Palestinians. The phrase “by any means necessary” coined by Malcolm X, the iconic civil rights activist who asserted, “We want freedom by any means necessary. We want justice by any means necessary. We want equality by any means necessary.” In the context of systematic oppression, we must question who, if not the oppressor, is hurt by calls for freedom, justice, and equality?
We are outraged by the Deans’ weaponization of the Arabic language. None of the Deans speak Arabic, yet they label the Arabic word “intifada” as antisemitic and genocidal. “Intifada” translates to “uprising” and has described protests throughout Arab history. The #MeToo movement is referred to as an intifada. There have also been intifadas by Arabs against Arab leaders- the 1952 Iraqi intifada, the 1984 Egyptian intifada, and the 1990s intifada in Bahrain. Would the Deans accuse the #MeToo intifada of calling for the genocide of men? Would they say the other uprisings called for the genocide of Arabs by Arabs? We whole-heartedly reject this orientalist and racist association of the Arabic language with violence and demand an apology.
It is absurd that the Columbia administration expresses such outrage at what these chants might mean, while the Israeli government has publicly repeated their intentions to decimate civilian life and ethnically cleanse Gaza. Our administrators remain shamefully silent amidst the genocide against Palestinians. Columbia cannot simultaneously claim to protect the rights of all students while censoring dissenting voices. Such unjust and harmful institutional biases affect us all. By de-contextualizing Palestinian activism, Columbia Deans have imperiled Palestinian members of our community who are watching their people murdered on TV and social media. To be offended by a slogan is one matter, but to witness the killing of thousands and thousands of Palestinian people and be punished for speaking out is beyond mere offense.
Unfortunately, Columbia’s devotion to normalizing apartheid and genocide has and will continue to have a real impact on student speech and safety. In denying the fact that the Israeli military is committing a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Columbia has made clear their intentions to maintain their stake in Israeli occupation: The Tel Aviv Global Center, Dual BA program, recruitment of IDF soldiers, and various financial investments in Israeli companies.
The Administration’s statements expose their clear bias, aligning them with Israel while further distracting from CUAD’s demands for divestment. President Shafik has met with pro-Israel organizers and attended at least two of their events. As we write this, Shafik has yet to meet with any Palestinians or pro-Palestinian organizers despite our repeated requests. This is not “tolerance or compassion,” it is a clear double standard that favors violence against Palestinians.
As the Columbia University Apartheid Divest Coalition, we demand that President Shafik cease her discriminatory approach and double standards, and immediately meet with representatives of CUAD and the Palestinian community. Until these demands are met, we urge the Columbia community to boycott any initiatives that serve to whitewash Columbia’s complicity in the Gaza Genocide.
Notes
1. Areeb Ullah, Student Officers at King’s College London Suspended “For Supporting Gaza,” Middle East Eye (Dec. 5, 2023 10:37 GMT), https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-kings-college-student-officers-suspended-support-gaza; Hannah Stanhill, King’s College London Adopts International Definition of Anti-Semitism, Brandeis Center (2021), (last visited Dec 9, 2023).
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